Everything I Didn't Say
by artsc
Summary: All it took was one concert to change everything. A new record label has Beca mixing with promise to lead her right up the ladder to production. Then there's Chloe, who hasn't got much more than her crappy apartment and her part time job at the local library. And three seats apart, two paths crash into each other.
1. Good Girls

The whole stadium erupted in cheers. Minus Beca. She was sitting in her seat, eyes on the pale dots that she knew were the band members. The notebook on her lap bounced whenever the person next to her jumped, but it was nothing she wasn't used to.

Luke always made her go to those types of concerts. He said it would help her find inspiration, listening to live music and seeing people get piss drunk while listening to pop fodder. Beca couldn't stop him from getting tickets and she definitely wasn't going to question the label's use of funding, but she did wonder if maybe that money could be better used on new microphones and drum kits.

So, regardless of her preference to not be in a pit of humanity, Beca ended up at concert after concert, earbud in one ear and pencil in hand.

She had to admit, it was cool not having to pay for concerts. But it wasn't so cool ending up at this preteen convention where none of the attendants had learned of the wonders of deodorant.

The first song blasted through the speakers and nearly every vocal chord in the stadium strained to be heard over the thousands of others.

Beca, though, gripped her pencil until her hand shook and wrote quick notes on the chords and key.

If he were there, Luke would tell her to enjoy the live music. "It's about the feeling," he said every day. "Let the music do it's thing to you."

As much as she would have liked to argue, she couldn't fight the fact that music was powerful, that it changed people.

Beca braced herself as the chorus began. It shook her to her bones, the bass lingering in the air and the lyrics forcing themselves into every possible space. And in the midst of all of the noise and preteen hormonal awakenings, she was content to sit and listen.

Three seats over, someone else sat down. Beca noticed, not only because the person was taller than those surrounding her but because the row of seats moved just slightly in response to the weight. She looked over.

Red hair. That was the most she could see before the people between them moved and her view was blocked. A few other taller girls sat down.

/

It was three years ago that Beca had gotten her job. _Barden Beat Records_. Located conveniently on Barden Boulevard.

If there was anything Beca had learned, it was to plan her every move. Every step she took was to get closer to an actual musical career.

/

Once the set was done, Beca stretched and walked to the bathroom. The line was well out the door by the time she was in it. Right in front of her was someone who seemed to be her age, with red hair. Three seats over girl.

"Why'd you sit?" Beca asked, before fully thinking through her decision.

"I'm mostly here for One Direction. Sorry if I offended you, Miss 5 Seconds of Summer."

"I'm not here for the bands, but thanks for the apology. I'm just not used to not being the only one sitting in a seat during one of these concerts." Beca's knees shook just slightly. She should have thought her original comment through. But then, she didn't have the best track record with making the most correct decisions, so it was too late to go back. "And, who's 5 Seconds of Summer?"

The other girl stared at her. She pointed to the t-shirts being sold.

"The band that just played."

Beca nodded. "They sounded pretty good."

"Yeah," the other girl agreed. "So… if you didn't know who they were, and you don't seem too excited for One Direction, why are you here?"

"Work," was all Beca said. Talking about the label and her job wasn't her favorite thing to do. It just made people ask more questions.

"Oh," the other girl said. She turned around, facing the front of the line.

/

Beca wasn't entirely sure what had just happened. Somehow, she managed to offend and shock one person within thirty seconds of meeting. And now she was on her phone, looking up that band 5 Seconds of whatever and figuring out what songs she had heard them play just minutes ago.

The girl in front of her turned around again to face her.

"That song Good Girls? That one's my favorite."

And within seconds, the girl's back was to her and no other conversation was made.

/

She settled into the blue plastic seat and opened her notebook to jot down some more notes. Beca was able to figure out the set list that she had heard and she was already thinking of songs to mix. When the lights went down and the stadium fell into darkness, she closed the notebook.

In the dark, she could just see the outline of the Barden Beat Records sticker on the cover.

The crowd jostled her even in her seat. The three girls next to her asked to switch seats to see better, and Beca allowed it. It's not like she really wanted to watch, anyways.

Of course, she landed right next to the girl she saw earlier.

She was singing just as loud as everyone else in the stadium, jumping around and shouting, too. But all those other people, the twelve year olds, outlasted her. She sat down and noticed Beca next to her, plus the notebook in her lap.

"Barden Beat?" she asked, leaning towards Beca.

"Shit!" Beca tried her best to back away but was blocked by her own seat. "What?"

"Barden Beat Records. I love their stuff," she said, straining to be heard over the music and the screaming. "I'm Chloe, by the way."

"Beca," Beca said.

"So that's your work?" Chloe asked, acknowledging the notebook.

Beca ran her finger over the edge of the sticker. "Yeah. I, um, usually mix stuff."

Chloe's eyes widened. "That's you? The mash-ups? I listen to those _all_ the time! It's all you?"

"It is, in fact, all me," Beca said. "Luke, my boss, sends me to these concerts to get inspiration or whatever."

"If you don't mind me saying, I think it works. What you do is really good." Chloe pulled her phone out of her bag. "See?"

She pulled up a playlist and scrolled through it. Nearly every song was one of Beca's mash-ups, with a few exceptions.

"Is that… David Guetta?" Beca asked, noticing his name.

"Well, yeah. What, do you think I've been living under a rock?"

"You're the one who willingly came to a One Direction and 5 Seconds of Summer concert. You're the one who's favorite song is 'Good Girls,'" Beca retorted.

"You barely even listen to the song, do you?"

"I listen to the music. Lyrics, I can give or take. I let everyone else come up with what the lyrics are really saying." Beca pointed to the stage. "I'm not the one writing the stuff. For me, it's more about the art behind the words."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "But then you're totally ignoring the story!"

A new song started and the crowd roared. Beca rubbed her temples.

"That's what everyone says. Then they listen to the words so much that they ignore the bass line, the drums, everything. It's not the story that's the most important. It's the way it's told."


	2. She's Not Afraid

"But it's love! It's about love!" Chloe shouted over the music.

Her new companion, Beca, rolled her eyes. "But it's not. It's forty year old men writing songs for thirteen year old girls. It's heteronormative indoctrination."

Chloe leaned back in her seat, smiling. She grabbed Beca's earbuds and pulled at the chord until Beca's phone was in Chloe's hands.

"And this is proof that it isn't," Chloe said. "Passcode?"

Beca seemed uneasy about letting Chloe into her phone, but she unlocked her phone and watched carefully as Chloe tapped away.

"There," Chloe said, "proof."

She handed the phone back to Beca and waited. It took a full minute before Beca realized why her contacts were open.

"Did you just-?" Beca asked.

"Maybe we can…" Chloe leaned over the arm separating her and Beca's chair, "talk more about music sometime."

"I'm not… I do a lot, but I'm not the person to go to for like, talking," Beca said. "Or… relationships?"

/

"I don't know what I did!" Chloe said. "It's like something came over me and I just… went for it."

Aubrey gripped the steering wheel tightly and sighed. "It was the moment, Chloe. Stop worrying. And you know it's no big deal when _I'm_ the one who's not worried."

"Oh, sure. Stop worrying about meeting your favorite musician literally ever and stealing her phone to put your number in. Totally fine," Stacie said. "What if she calls you?"

"I doubt anything will happen. Unless she gets a restraining order… Plus, she seemed kind of nervous about the whole thing, at least when I started talking about how songs are about love." Chloe tapped her fingers against her phone, as if she could undo that same action an hour earlier. "It was like she was afraid of something."

"Probably you," Aubrey pointed out. "Watch my right side."

"Go for it," Chloe said.

Aubrey pulled onto the ramp and left the highway. "Okay, now what happened after?"

Stacie, in the back seat, asked, "Did you at least get a picture with her?"

Chloe held her head in her hands. "I didn't even get a picture. We just… talked? Like, she told me about the parties she gets to go to and the places she DJs when she doesn't have a lot of work. Other than when I said that one thing, she wasn't afraid of anything. Does that make sense?"

"It'll be good then, that you aren't expecting anything from her," Aubrey said. "She doesn't seem like she's good for you."

"But I bet she's fantastic in bed," Stacie interjected. "People with commitment issues always are."

Chloe twisted around in her seat so she could look right at Stacie. "It wasn't like she had commitment issues. She was just, well, afraid."

"Because you scared her, maybe?" Aubrey asked. "Your personal boundaries are hardly existent, and people might not always enjoy that."

/

Chloe opened her laptop and started her search.

_Producer/DJ Beca Mitchell spotted at party all alone_

_2014's newest artist crashes websites with her mash-ups_

_A new spin on music: Beca Mitchell's sacred solitude_

The headlines said it all. Beca Mitchell wasn't someone who you became friends with because you sat next to her at a concert. But Chloe couldn't stop reading the paragraph-long blurbs about her.

_"__I'm a huge believer in going after what you want. It's gotten me this far."_

_"__It's not about the parties or the name recognition. For me, it's all about the music. Everything else comes from that."_

And the newest, _"I listen a lot more than I talk. And when I listen, it's mostly to music. I miss when people would make CDs for people."_

Chloe reread everything she found. None of it helped; she still felt uneasy about what she had done. But at the same time, she couldn't get rid of the light feeling in her stomach.

The pictures told the rest of the story. Beca hung back, observing. In every picture, she was talking with someone, but in every picture, she was in the same spot. Everyone had come up to her to talk. And Beca didn't seem phased by the attention, except that she looked mildly bored. If anything, it looked like she had somewhere better to be.

Still, something felt weird. Like, something was buzzing around her. No, not around her, just to the left of her.

Phone.

She picked up her phone and read the screen. The message came from someone who wasn't in her contacts.

_But it was so weird, and I've been listening to the music for hours._

And a few seconds later, another text came.

_Wrong number, sorry._

Chloe tossed her phone onto her bed and lay down. She kept thinking that she had forgotten something.

To take her mind off of whatever was bothering her, she turned on her music. It was nice, having the music do her thinking for her. All she had to do was follow it.

Beca didn't know what she was talking about. Lyrics were important. Chloe smiled, thinking about the hours Beca must spend listening to lyrics she doesn't care about. And she remembered her time in college in her acapella group, mimicking instruments and backup vocals.

Her phone broke the moment.

_You forgot to ask for my number._

She did. She did forget to ask.

Chloe put the number in her contacts under the name _Beca_. She replied to the text.

_Like you would have given it to the girl who nearly stole your phone._

/

"Seriously." Chloe was nearly hyperventilating with panic.

"I still don't… I mean, I see it right here, but how?" Aubrey handed the phone back to Chloe. "You're in something really bad now, you know that?"

All Chloe could do was nod. She leaned against the wall and let out a shaky sigh. "Yeah."

"So this is all you called me over for? Because I need to get up early tomorrow," Aubrey said.

"Yeah."

"Okay. I'm going to go home. Are you going to be okay?"

Chloe looked down at her phone, at the texts, at the name at the top of her screen.

"Yeah."


	3. Social Casualty

Beca remembered her first laptop like most kids remembered their first bike- as the first step to freedom. Her headphones were complete shit, but when they were filled with music, they blocked out the world.

Her mom used to say, "Music isn't a career."

Her dad used to say, "If you think I'm paying $1000 so you can play with music on your computer, you're mistaken."

Her teachers used to say, "Have a backup plan."

They all said the same thing. "You won't make it far. You'll fail."

Beca loved her music most when it was night. She liked looking at the stars and imagining that they were other worlds that were filled with music, worlds with people who would stick out a hand and say, "You got this."

/

She never really had friends when she was going through school. Her priority was learning how to mix and getting better with every attempt she made.

When she wasn't mixing or in school, she was working at the movie theatre. She hated it, but she needed to save up for better software, a better laptop, better headphones. The smell of popcorn repulsed her and everyone seemed to want to tell her about movies she really didn't care about, but it paid above minimum wage.

Once she bought her new gear, she not-so-gloriously quit and vowed never to go to a movie theatre again. Her farewell featured no clichés or sentiments. One day she was there, the next, she wasn't.

When she turned 18, she knew that it was get out or get stuck. With her laptop bag and a suitcase, she took a bus to the nearest airport.

Georgia was too small for her, it felt like. It had nothing for her except a plane ticket out. She took it and ran, all the way to Los Angeles.

She walked up to every recording studio and asked if they had any openings, for anything. One place did, and she owed everything to Luke and Jesse.

/

Luke felt bad that this girl out of Georgia had nowhere to work and nothing to do. He let her work as an assistant for a year before letting her anywhere near the music. But she worked hard, and she worked well.

Jesse, though, found her whenever he could and interrogated her about the headphones in her bag or the laptop she cradled close to her body when she left for the night.

Beca would never say it, but she had her whole life on that computer. It was where she kept her music, her ideas, her everything.

/

She showed up to work one day, humming and jotting down notes in a notebook. Jesse found it sitting on the table in the break room. He brought it to her, and he said she should show it to Luke.

"You read my notebook? Fuck, what is wrong with you?"

She never showed it to Luke. Jesse, though, kept asking about it.

"It's none of your business," Beca kept saying. "Get lost."

/

A year later, Luke let her interview. He asked to see some past work, some experience. She pulled out a CD and got a call the next day.

"We can't let you work on our major stuff yet. But we can teach you our equipment and let you start on our new artists," Luke said. "We definitely have a place for you here."

/

In just a few years, she was mixing her own tracks and Barden Beat was planning to give her an EP to work on.

A few EPs later, they told her that they were going to release an EP with her mash-ups.

Within a year, they digitally released an album of her work.

Touring bands asked her to make promotional mash-ups. Then they invited her to their after parties. It all happened so fast that Beca hardly had time to realize that people knew her without her knowing them.

/

But it was the day of that one concert that was most important. One mash-up between the two bands could potentially reach the audiences for each and more. People liked dynamic songs and they liked when two bands "joined together," even if it isn't real.

So they sent her to the concert to get inspired. They told her, "This has got to be the best. This will be huge."

She said, "Only if _no one_ knows I'm going. I hate being noticed."

/

It was nice going to a stadium and having no one look her way. The only time anyone talked to her was when she bought a bottle of water. It was great.

She was pretty high up, not in a great section, but she could see as much as she wanted, which wasn't much. The only thing she was concerned about was tripping on the concrete steps and having to explain that she smashed her head at a One Direction concert. But her coordination was in her favor, and she made it to and from her seat with no complications.

She found the set list online, but the titles meant nothing to her. She barely recognized any, and probably wouldn't be able to name any if she heard them. But by the end of the night, she was sure she would have at least some idea of what she could do with the music.

What she wasn't expecting was to end up next to a spunky redhead who would figure out exactly who she was.


	4. I Would

_A/N: Anyone figure out the pattern of the chapters yet?_

Seventh grade. That was when it happened.

Stacie started dating. Aubrey started talking about high school. Everyone seemed to be moving forward at a pace Chloe was not okay with. Guys started getting with girls… It was all foreign to her.

When Stacie got her first boyfriend, it didn't seem so bad. But then Aubrey followed, and soon enough, so did nearly everyone else.

All Chloe could think about was how she could do so much better than all of those boys. Easy.

But it barely occurred to her at first that she was maybe a little different because of her view.

In her backyard on a Saturday afternoon, Stacie told her about how John or Harold or whoever it was now had told her that he was gay. Aubrey gasped and whispered something in Stacie's ear, and she said, "Butt. I looked it up."

Chloe didn't ask any questions, but that didn't mean she didn't have any to ask. Instead of inquiring out loud, she tossed the thoughts around in her head and set them aside when they became inconvenient.

"That's for another day," she would tell herself. "I don't want to think about that yet."

Chloe kept listening to her music, and unfortunately, music forced thoughts into her mind. Nothing dirty, just mini stories. She listened to a lot of boy bands, like her friends, but for a different reason. She didn't think they were singing to her. She was singing with them.

Chloe became the test for Stacie and Aubrey. If Chloe didn't like the guy, he was out. No questions, no arguing. Chloe would almost always say, "He's just not good enough. He's not right."

She didn't feel right all the time like she used to. She had questions and no answers. She had an emptiness inside of her that only grew as time passed.

Chloe went the only place she could think of: the library. It was quiet, people didn't ask her questions, and, most importantly, she could find answers. She never asked the librarians anything. Years of her life were occupied by checking over her shoulder while she looked up books on the library computer.

The library only had so many books, though. Soon, she was reserving time slots just to use the Internet, because at home, her parents would surely ask what she was looking at. And she wasn't ready to explain that.

She didn't talk with the librarians much, but she started noticing that they kept an eye on her. One in particular.

"Chloe?"

She wasn't used to hearing anyone try to talk to her in the library. She flinched and turned to see one of the librarians behind her, holding a stack of books.

"We had some of these that we've never put into circulation. I noticed that you… might want to read them. They're all yours if you want them."

The librarian, Gail, according to her nametag, set the books on the table next to the computer.

"Thanks," Chloe said. She looked at the top book. At the very bottom f the cover, in thick black letters, there was a line of text, a review from some other author. _An amazing book for questioning teens- I wish I had this when I was younger!_

Chloe understood then why the librarian had brought them over. Not just because she would like the story, but Gail must have seen her checking out books before.

Before she could say anything in protest, Chloe remembered what was on the screen in front of her. A Google search, _I think I'm gay_.

Chloe grabbed her backpack, shoved the books inside, and ran out of the library.

/

The summer after her senior year, Chloe needed a job. And the library had a summer opening.

Gail was in charge of finding someone to run programs while the librarian who usually did was out on vacation. She was more than happy to see Chloe show up for an interview.

"We'll just need you to have maybe two programs a day, four days a week. You'll have any of the supplies in the back room and our volunteers usually help, too," Gail explained. "Can you work with kids?"

"For sure." Chloe smiled. It had been a while since she had spent more than a few minutes in the library at any one time. It felt familiar, but haunted by what she knew it was familiar for. But she knew what it meant for kids to have a place to go. She knew it was right for her to at least try to get a job there over the summer.

"Then we'll see you at six on Monday for your official training!"

/

Chloe spent the summer wrangling kids and trying to reading more stories than she thought any small child could possibly retain.

Between programs, she was on her laptop searching for new books, books she would have wanted to read when she needed it most. She found a good selection of books at the library and read every one she could get a hold of.

It was oddly reassuring to not have to hide her choice in books, because she knew that Gail knew. Not having to say anything made her want to say something.

By the end of the summer, she told Stacie and Aubrey.

She stopped hiding herself from the world.

/

They asked if she wanted to come with them to a One Direction concert.

She was way more excited to go than most would assume, because she wasn't exactly infatuated by the boys. But she did love the music, and singing those songs, and pretending that the songs were written for people who felt like she did, not for the people who wanted to think that they were being lusted after by a boy band.

It was just a happy coincidence that the most notoriously single (and suspected to be lesbian) music producer in the country was sitting three seats away.

A very happy coincidence, indeed.


	5. Voodoo Doll

_A/N: Expect at least one update a week, probably on weekends. I'm planning on this being at least 20 chapters (I think, we'll see how it actually goes). Anyways, enjoy!_

* * *

><p>Beca slid her headphone over her ears. It was late, probably past midnight but she hadn't checked the clock in a while. She switched songs, and switched back. She tapped her pencil on the corner of her laptop before opening up the new software Luke was having her do some test work on.<p>

For the first time, she tried to listen to the lyrics.

_I don't even like you, why do you want to go and make me feel this way?_

Beca sent a quick text to Luke.

_This one will be kind of different, ok?_

It only took a few seconds to get his response.

_Do your thing._

/

Her room was bright when she woke up. Beca rubbed her eyes and turned to the clock.

It was early afternoon. 1:30. Her laptop was open at her feet, the screen black.

Beca reached out to tap the spacebar. Nothing happened.

"Shit."

She closed her laptop and got out of bed. Her house was quiet except for the sound of her bare feet on the floor.

"Fucking late night ideas…" Beca muttered. "Now a dead battery."

It wasn't unusual for her to be kept up at night with ideas, but she at least normally kept her laptop charged enough to make it through the night. That meant that she could save in the morning, but this time, it was all gone.

As she made breakfast (more like lunch), she found herself singing. But it wasn't normal. Beca almost never sang unless she had to fill in vocals on a track. And if she ever had a song stuck in her head, it was the guitar part or the interludes. This was different.

/

Once she was satisfied with her mid-afternoon breakfast, Beca plugged in her computer and checked her phone.

_Like you would have given it to the girl who nearly stole your phone_

Above the text, her name was followed by a smiling emoji. It was the only contact name in Beca's list that had anything besides just the name. She felt weird about deleting it, though. In a way, it felt like it was part of Chloe's name. Just like last night, smiling and talking to a stranger. How could it be possible to erase that tiny face that said so much?

Beca decided to play the game. If Chloe was going to have the guts to text her back, Beca was going to have fun with it.

_Thanks to you I've had this song stuck in my head all night_

She saw the three little dots pop up. Two minutes passed, five, ten.

Then the message came through.

_You're welcome :)_

It felt weird, different from how Beca texted people. Nothing had a goal, no one was making plans or asking questions or trying to get something.

Chloe just wanted to talk. Same as the night of the concert. She just wanted to talk.

Another text came in.

_So did you get any ideas?_

Beca smiled.

_A few, but my laptop's dead._

She put her phone away. She figured she might as well get some work done whole her laptop recuperated.

Her guitar had a thin layer of dust covering it. Considering that she hadn't played it in at least two years, she wasn't surprised. Beca picked at a couple of the strings and cringed at the result of two years of not being tuned.

Her phone vibrated.

_Becky, song's due in three weeks. They need it for a promotional gig._

It had started as a miscommunication, Luke calling her Becky. But now it was just to get on her nerves.

It was okay, though. Beca was more than thrilled with any recognition. She knew how far she'd come. So she knew she had to work, because what's earned is easily lost if you loosen your grip.

Beca went back to her guitar and started tuning it. The strings were old, though, and she couldn't get them to stop buzzing, no matter how in-tune they were.

/

Her keys jingled when she made the left turn into the parking lot. She paused the music on her phone. The lot was nearly empty. It was perfect, just like it always was.

She opened her car door and waited.

Still quiet. Perfect. When she stepped into the store, she heard Fat Amy talking with a customer. But she knew where to go on her own.

Left wall, across from the amplifiers, next to the straps and above the picks. She grabbed a pack of strings and some new picks off of the wall and tried to look busy fooling around with one of the used guitars.

The bells on the door clattered against each other and the metal frame, and soon Amy was behind her.

"You lookin' for a cheap guitar?"

Beca turned around and grinned.

"I'm back," Beca said. "Impressed that I snuck in?"

"Yeah, you usually go right for the fancy stuff," Amy said. "Let me get you the key to the back."

The back room was Beca's recording studio. Amy let her use the space as long as she signed a few disks and hosted a few events. Once, she mixed live during the yearly Halloween party, and another time, she and Amy planted a few autographs in some of the music books. That was back when Beca was just starting out and barely anyone knew her. Sometimes she wondered where those autographs were now, and whether anyone bothered to keep them.

Beca kept her old recording equipment in the back room. She usually brought her laptop, but this time she only brought her guitar.

She went back to her car to get her guitar and brought it in back. It almost surprised her how methodical and natural it felt to restring her guitar. The store always smelled like coffee, the carpet was faded, the doors squeaked. It felt like a real place. If it was all Beca had, she would be happy. All she needed was that back room and the smell of coffee even at eleven o'clock at night.

As she finished, she couldn't stop thinking about Chloe. And those song lyrics, they were still stuck in her head.

/

"So, what's been happening?" Amy asked with a mouthful of turkey sandwich. "Any news? Aliens? Secret surveillance cameras? Come on, I need fun shit to talk about."

Beca couldn't stop herself from saying what she was thinking about. "It's this girl. I met her at the concert last night. And I can't get these songs out of my head… You know 5 Seconds of Summer? They're some new pop punk band or whatever."

"That's their trick," Amy said. "All the songs, they're empty. They make you fill in the blanks. You must have it bad for this chick."

"I- I don't. I just think it's cool that she likes to talk about music. And she kind of put her number in my phone."

Amy laughed. "That, my friend, means nothing. You think of her and you think of the songs. You're in deep."

* * *

><p><em>AN: By the way, anyone figure out the pattern yet?_


	6. I Wish

Chloe stared down at the text she just sent. She was texting Beca. _Beca_. And they were having a _conversation_. Sure, it was cool, but it was nerve-wracking at the same time. She read into every text she sent countless times before actually hitting send. Then she obsessed over Beca's responses until she was over thinking every letter.

She sent a text and almost immediately regretted it.

_So when are we getting together to talk about music more? ;)_

But there was no going back. She just had to go with it.

"Chloe, hurry up! We're already late and we need those new books you told us about! Small children are rereading Thomas the Tank Engine for the nth time, they're memorizing." Aubrey's shrill voice cut through the trance Chloe's phone had put her in.

"Coming!"

And then Stacie, "And keep your phone, and whatever else you got going on, in your pants! We know who you've been texting!"

/

Gail waved to them when they walked into the back office of the library. She pointed to the basement stairs. "New books!"

Chloe led the way. She was the one with the key, after all. Aubrey and Stacie just volunteered; Chloe got paid.

The books were "new." The box was labeled _Donations_ and the delivery sticker was from some library across the country. But the books were new to the kids, and they didn't understand the concept of publication years or copyright dates, so it was all okay.

A few bare bulbs hung from the ceiling, spreading enough light to see but not enough to do much of anything else, lighted the basement. But of course, Stacie filled the room with her stellar methods of subtlety and interrogation.

"So when's big shot Beca going to file a restraining order? Or have you two already created a web of lies and secrets with cool suspicious meeting places?"

Chloe had to admit, it felt really good to have Stacie talk so casually about the whole situation- if that's what it could even be considered. Chloe saw it more as a coincidence, almost like a gift. It was just cool, just… texting some musician she met at a concert. Because she wanted to talk about music. Just music.

Sure, she was lying to herself. But it was okay; lying kept it distant.

"We've just texted. I told her to listen to some music and now it's stuck in her head." Chloe couldn't help but laugh at that fact. Her song recommendation had managed to stick with Beca for hours, apparently.

"So when are you going to, you know…" Stacie wiggled her hips. "Do it?"

Even in the dark, Chloe could see Aubrey's face turn red.

"We're down here to get children's books, can we please finish this _simple_ task and discuss… whatever this is… later?"

Stacie laughed and picked up one of the boxes. "Fine. Let's go."

/

Although it wasn't unusual, Chloe found it irritating that Stacie declared an impromptu sleepover at Chloe's place that night.

Aubrey claimed to no want to participate, but she showed up ready and willing, knowing full well that she needed to be on guard in case any of the other two decided to pull some stupid prank.

Stacie grabbed Aubrey's stuff at the door and whispered something quickly in Aubrey's ear.

Chloe knew better than to question it. If it was going to get out, it was going to come with Aubrey's sandwich from lunch.

Stacie made a point to put on a slew of sappy, predictable movies. After two of them had played through, the rest seemed to bleed together.

"See what you could have, Chlo? You have her number, go ahead. Make a move. We won't judge," Stacie said, pointing at the now-black screen.

"Sorry I respect her personal space. I'm not going after her."

"Fine," Stacie said. "As long as you know what you're missing out on." She put on the last of her DVDs and waited.

At 1 AM, Chloe was out cold.

At 1:10, her phone buzzed.

Stacie poked Aubrey, who quickly sat up and glared in response.

"Come on, we've got to move this along."

Stacie grabbed Chloe's phone and read the message on the screen.

_Well, a whole day with your fucking song stuck in my head. Congrats._

It was almost too good for Stacie to resist. With Aubrey looking over her shoulder to keep her from going overboard, she responded.

_It's not the only thing stuck in your head, then, is it?_

So far, so good.

_I guess not…_

Aubrey checked to make sure Chloe was still asleep, but she already knew. Once Chloe was sleeping, she was out for at least six hours.

_So…? What's on your mind?_

Stacie could barely stop herself from laughing at how slow the conversation was going. Both Beca and Chloe must be, collectively, the worst at catching on to hints, especially considering that this kind of texting didn't warrant any question on Beca's part.

_You, I guess._

The another message from Beca.

_You know, we should hang out some time. Talk about music or whatever. Like you said._

"Perfect," Stacie whispered.

_Love the idea. Been looking for something fun to do._

Aubrey felt worse and worse with every text. It was Chloe, after all, and it just wasn't right to trick her like this.

"Stacie, you should probably quit it now. It'll be too weird for them later if she missed a while conversation."

"I can't just break off the conversation," Stacie protested.

The phone buzzed again.

_I haven't done anything like this in a long time._

"Yes, you can." Aubrey grabbed the phone, but Stacie had already responded.

_Why?_

Aubrey hid the phone under her pillow and tried to ignore the incoming text that kept her up for another fifteen minutes. Soon enough, though, the alerts stopped and Stacie had gone to sleep.

/

"Hey, why's my phone on the other side of the room?" Chloe asked. The morning light was bright, glinting off of her phone's screen next to Aubrey's pillow.

"Um…" Stacie hesitated. "We kind of texted your DJ girlfriend a little bit because you fell asleep."

Chloe shot up and reached for her phone. One text was on her screen.

_I was never good at it. It was a lot easier to not really try and just focus on music._

"You… I can't believe you guys. And to think, I was going to make breakfast. Just… go now, please?"

Once her apartment was clear of everyone but her, Chloe held her finger over the "call" button.

Beca didn't know that it was Stacie and Aubrey. The conversation hadn't gone too deep, but Chloe knew that Beca was a private person.

She tapped the button and waited. The phone rang, kept ringing, and went to voicemail.

"Hey, it's Beca. Leave a message."

Chloe tried to talk, but she couldn't find the right words. She didn't want to scare Beca, but she didn't want to lie about the whole conversation, either.

"I… it's Chloe. When should we meet up?"


	7. Heartbreak Girl

_Next chapter should have some more fun stuff happening. Party time!_

* * *

><p>The night air always helped her think. The darkness felt safe; it wrapped around her and held her until morning.<p>

But Beca still held her phone, the dim screen lighting up whenever Chloe sent her a message. The rush, the anticipation before actually reading it, kept Beca from sleeping. It had been a long day recording in Amy's back room, and it was the one night she had planned on actually sleeping at a decent hour.

So much for that.

At 2 in the morning, Chloe stopped texting. Beca read over the last text she sent.

Maybe she said too much. Why would Chloe want to listen to her go on about how she's bad at being decent, social human being?

/

She didn't bother looking at her phone when it rang. She knew it was Chloe. Who else would be calling her in the morning? Literally everyone else knew that she rarely woke up before noon on any given day. It was a miracle that she managed to drag herself out of bed to do some work considering _someone_ kept her up.

Another call came through a minute later. This time, she checked.

_Chloe_

"Of course I let the obsessive girl think we can be friends," Beca muttered. She picked up her phone and unlocked it. "Hey."

"Look, I'm really sorry. My friends stole my phone while I was asleep and this whole thing has me kind of freaking out because I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing about any of this and honestly I would totally understand if you hate me."

The voice needed no introduction. No formalities, either apparently.

Beca sighed.

"Starbucks on 5th. Wait outside for me. We'll talk." And she hung up.

/

She waited in Amy's apartment, looking out the window to see when Chloe arrived.

"Thanks for letting m wait here, Amy," Beca said.

"No problem, squirt. I love a good stakeout."

"It's not… I mean, I'm not… Never mind."

Amy's apartment overlooked 5th from its position on the third floor, right across from the Starbucks. The whole area was filled with a mix of apartments, condos, and shops of all sorts. Leave it to Amy to land herself in the middle of all the action.

Beca leaned against the window. The street below was busy, but she kept looking for Chloe to pop up somewhere.

A flash of red hair turned a corner and walked towards the Starbucks, pausing right outside the door.

"See you later, okay?" Beca said as she left.

"Yeah, and next time, bring your friend!" Amy raised her eyebrows and waited for Beca's reaction, but Beca was already out the door and on her way.

/

"Come on." Beca grabbed Chloe's wrist and walked.

"Wait, what?"

"Come on. Two words, pretty simple."

Beca led Chloe to the parking lot behind Amy's apartment building.

"Should I be scared?" Chloe asked.

"Nah. I'm the one that's scared." Beca unlocked her car and motioned for Chloe to get in. "I'm assuming you know a private place to talk. My place is out of the question."

Chloe hesitated. She looked around the car. CD cases were scattered in back and there was a tangle of chords in the cup holder. It smelled faintly of pizza.

"Promise you're not going to kill me?" she asked.

"I couldn't take the bad press. Plus, you're too innocent to really give me a good motive." Beca pulled out of the lot and waited at the stop sign. "Well?"

/

Chloe hid her face in her hands when they walked into her apartment. "I'm so sorry. It's a mess."

"Relax. I've seen worse, trust me," Beca said. She walked over to the couch and sat down. "Now about the texts last night."

"Again, I'm so sorry. I… I had no idea they were doing it and they always do stuff like that to me. I mean, I guess we do it to each other. But still, they should have-"

"It's fine," Beca interrupted. "I just want to make sure they're not going to say anything to anyone about anything."

"What, are you from the mob or something?"

"No, I just value my privacy. Do you know how hard it is to keep things private when everyone wants to know what shampoo you use?"

"So, you're not mad?"

"No." Beca clasped her hands together. "I just need to know that this whole thing stays between us. And them, I guess, but keep them quiet."

Chloe couldn't help but laugh. "Good. I thought I was going to be sued or something. Ugh, you had me terrified!"

Beca chuckled in response. "Yeah, you had me pretty scared, too." She leaned back in the couch. "So."

"So," Chloe echoed.

The silence between them grew until Beca couldn't take it any more.

"I've been listening to the music. Their music. It's interesting."

Chloe smiled and pulled out her phone. She started to play some music.

"I'm glad you're enjoying it," she said. "But really, serious question. What is this?" Chloe pointed to Beca and then back to herself.

Beca shrugged. She sat up and tapped on Chloe's phone to see the song title. "It's what it is. Why are you so into all these songs? Aren't they meant for tween girls?"

"You're avoiding the question, Beca. And the songs are nice when you don't think they're being sung to you."

"I don't like defined stuff. Labels scare me. I just am. And we're just us. Until I leave, then it's just you."

Chloe clenched her hands into tight balls. She couldn't believe how nonchalant Beca was being after practically interrogating her about the texts. Okay, not interrogating. But it was scary.

"What's your problem?" Chloe asked.

"I have so many," Beca replied. "You wouldn't believe the list."

The truth was, Chloe scared her. Not that she would ever say it. The whole situation felt like her first TV interview. Luke told her that, when in doubt, act distant and dark. It stuck with her. It was her persona now, cold and disinterested. It helped her get away with wanting privacy and getting through social interactions. It let her focus on what she was really doing everything for.

"Okay, listen." Beca held up a hand. "I don't want you to get sucked into anything you're not ready for. I thought I was ready for three years and I still wasn't. But I have this party tomorrow night to drum up some press for the EP I'm dropping at the end of summer. It'd be cool to have someone there to actually talk to, and stuff."

"And stuff?" Chloe asked, laughing. "Sure. Why not."

"Awesome," Beca said. "Jesse will call you tonight to get you up to speed on everything."

"What do I need to know?"

"The hell if I know. He just tells me where to go when."


	8. Alive

_Longer chapter this time. I hope you guys like it!_

* * *

><p>"Are you willing to kind of… trick Beca a little bit? Give her a little boost?" Jesse asked.<p>

Chloe sighed. "How?"

"Get her dancing, singing, anything. Stick by her side- she hates these things because no one really knows her all that much. Just don't let her stand next to the wall the whole time."

"Are you sure this is okay? I don't want to go behind her back…"

"It's fine. You're just helping her have a good time where there might be photographers," Jesse said.

"Okay."

"She'll pick you up at five and bring you to the studio first, to get you in on the EP and to get both of you ready. Bring a few sets of clothes."

"Okay."

Chloe hung up.

/

The knock was so quiet that she could barely hear it. Even the tamest knocks could shake her door, but this one was timid.

She pulled her door open.

"Hey."

Beca raised a hand in a small wave.

"Hi," Chloe said. "Ready?"

"Sure."

/

"Beca, you're stuff's in the booth. Chloe, this way. You have the clothes you brought with?" Luke asked, pointing Chloe towards the bathrooms. "Cynthia Rose, help her out." He turned to Beca. "By the way, Cynthia Rose is new. She'll be helping you with your image and all that, publicity. Jesse's going to be learning the new software you've been testing out so he can start finalizing the albums."

Cynthia Rose guided Chloe through the studio and tossed her some of the clothes she brought. "Go ahead, Red. This should work. You'll do great."

Chloe wrapped her arms around the clothes she was carrying and stepped into the bathroom. She slipped her shoes off and started to change. Outside, she could hear Luke and Jesse arguing.

"You can't just send her out with some girl from a concert!"

"Yes, I can. She needs to nail this or everyone will see that she's just a music-obsessed shut in!"

A door slammed.

"Don't you fucking say anything like that again!" Beca roared. "You think that's all there is? That I'm just a fucking machine to pump out cheap mash-ups that only get popular because we use other people's songs? You have no idea what's in my head. You have no idea what I have saved for the day you finally let me do something new."

Chloe finished dressing and slipped out of the bathroom, hoping to go unnoticed. But of course, that wasn't the case.

"Hold up, Chlo," Cynthia Rose called out. "Show it off!"

She couldn't stop the smile on her face as Cynthia Rose gave her a small round of applause. Luke and Jesse were silent, watching Beca to see if their "discussion" was going to continue.

But Beca had forgotten about it. All she saw in front of her was Chloe, the girl she met at the concert in a t-shirt and shorts, dressed in a deep blue shirt and black skinny jeans. The ensemble was so simple, but Beca was hypnotized by how Chloe looked.

"Beca?"

Her own name sounded far away. She was lost in her own mind, looking through a black veil into the world around her.

"Beca!"

"Yeah," she said. "Still here."

"Okay, Chloe. If anyone asks about what to expect, tell them that you shouldn't tell them. Then say that Beca's been working with some artists to give their songs a whole new sound. Remind them not to tell anyone, and I guarantee it'll get out by the end of the week."

Chloe responded with a confused look.

"So you want them to know?"

"Of course," Jesse said. "If people think they have information they shouldn't have, they get excited."

Beca sighed. "People are stupid."

"Very. And we love it," Luke said. "Now, go stir up some action."

/

Even from the car, they could hear the bass coming from inside. Beca gripped the handle of the car door.

"You sure you're okay doing this?" she asked.

"Yes." Chloe opened her door. "It'll be fun, right?"

"Sure, I guess." Beca stepped outside and took a deep breath. The venue wasn't anything special, just a loft the label had bought. It was a party space, a backup meeting room, and when the recording booths were full, Beca's makeshift cocoon. But for parties, it was transformed. Loud music, too many people, and neatly-packaged comments for informal interviews. Very corporate, Beca remembered, with a real list and everything. She hated it. It was all too restricted. Tight.

She led Chloe up to the top floor and to the bouncer. He nodded at Beca but looked Chloe up and down before stepping aside.

"Got yourself a friend?"

"You could say that, yes," Beca replied. "Chloe. Add her to the regular list." She looked over to Chloe, who was a few shades paler than before. "Come on, let's rock this."

Once they walked in, it was like the world behind them had disappeared completely. The space was filled with people dancing and drinking and talking. The whole room pulsed with the music, pushing against the walls and sending sound at them from all directions.

"This way," Beca said, pulling Chloe along. They weaved between people and towards the DJ booth at the other end of the loft. "I'll hop in there, pop in a CD, and then we can get drunk."

Chloe watched as Beca tapped the microphone and tested a few knobs and levers.

"Thanks for coming, let's get this started!" Beca said. Her voice blasted through the speakers and she twisted a knob to fix the sound. "Later tonight we'll play some previews for the EP."

She turned the music back up and stepped out of the booth.

Chloe waited off to the side. When Beca walked up to her, she could barely hear what she was saying.

"This is really cool!" she shouted over the music.

"Yeah. Sometimes." Beca replied.

"But seriously, this feels so alive! I mean, this whole place is really moving and intense. It's great!" Chloe pointed across the room. "I knew it was going to be wild, but this is insane!"

A few people walked up to them, each holding notebooks and pens.

"Interviews…" Beca said. She leaned close to Chloe and whispered, "Just be cool. Chances are, they're tired and want to go home. I'll answer questions and this will be over quickly. I hope."

Already, they were asking questions. Chloe looked at each of the people, the quick way they took notes and the lack of actual interest in what they were asking. Two of them whispered to each other while they looked at her, and another looked back and forth between her and Beca.

"Who's your friend?" "What did you just say to her?" "Is she a new recruit for the label?"

The questions poured out like they had been keeping bees in their mouths. Beca looked to Chloe for help.

"I can't say what she said. But we'll take care of it later tonight," Chloe said, smiling. And she winked. The group around them ducked their heads over their notebooks and scribbled furiously.

Chloe looked over to Beca, whose mouth was hanging open in admiration.

"You're a natural. Do all of my interviews for me."

"I don't get how you hate this. Beca, this is _living_. This is taking opportunities and running," Chloe said.

It took fifteen minutes for the quick interviews to blow over and another ten for Chloe to realize what had really just happened.

"Are you ready for tomorrow?" Beca asked. "We still have time to strong-arm them to not print your name."

"I'm not sure if I'm ready, but it'll be interesting either way."

/

The rest of the party was, for Chloe, exciting.

She dragged Beca around to dance, even though Beca continually reminded her that it wasn't as much fun when you mixed the music and spent hours pouring over three seconds to patch a cross fade.

But Chloe, she didn't let it stop her. She jumped and sang and pulled Beca along every step of the way.

It had been a long time since she felt so alive, so _present_. And she had already gotten a text from Jesse.

_Some of the pics have already made it up online. Good job._

* * *

><p><em>Also, good job for getting the pattern! Bonus points for you guys who said 5SOS for Beca and 1D for Chloe.<em>

_I personally had way too much fun coming up with the songs for the chapters for no one to notice._


	9. End Up Here

_Shorter chapter, but a bonus chapter will be up within the next two days. It'll be different from the others, but it'll be good. I hope._

* * *

><p>She couldn't help but watch Chloe in pure amazement. The way she moved through the crowd, the way the crowd moved for her. Chloe walked with her head high like this was what she did every Friday. And Beca could only watch, shuffle quickly after Chloe to keep up, and hope no one cared enough to ask questions.<p>

"Hey, you go dance. I'll hang over here," Beca said, slowing her walk and moving closer to the wall.

"Come on, don't make me dance alone," Chloe begged. "It'll be fun."

"Okay, fine. But first, I'm going to change up the music. I can only listen to my own music for so long before I want to rip my ears off."

Chloe obliged, moving to the middle of the dance floor.

Beca stepped up into the booth and turned on the microphone.

"I hope you all are having a good time tonight. We're going to switch up the music." She picked a new playlist on her laptop. "Thanks to my guest tonight for the song recommendations."

If there had been anything that Beca learned about emceeing her own events, it was that she had to make people think that she was paying attention to them. That's why whenever she did have to talk to people, she asked what they wanted to hear. That way, when she did put on some other music, she could give credit to an unnamed person and essentially ignore the recommendations while still having everyone think that she was actually listening to them.

It was how she coped. Beca hated events and parties. They weren't her kind of thing. Crowds, talking, dancing. It was all mild torture.

The first song on the playlist started to fill the room.

Beca looked out into the crowd and saw Chloe's head shoot up. Chloe's face was ecstatic, proud. Acknowledged.

Beca jumped out of the booth and started to wade through the crowd towards Chloe.

"Hey," Chloe said as soon as Beca was within earshot (which was about a foot away considering the general noise level). "Love the song."

"You would never guess, but I heard from a little bird that it was someone's favorite."

/

Chloe continued to drag Beca around the party, hopping between clumps of people and continually dancing. Beca had said it before; Chloe was a natural. The way she moved to the music, it was like she had done it her whole life.

Beca kept up as best as she could, grabbing a drink when she could and just generally trying not to trip over anyone.

And she watched Chloe when people kept coming up to them with notebooks and cameras. Chloe answered the questions like a pro, totally calm, happier than Beca had ever been in the same situation.

/

It was late, or early, when the party ended. Past midnight but before dawn, Beca hadn't bothered to check the time.

But when she was driving Chloe back to her apartment, she watched the moon slide down the sky. Her car jolted to a stop in front of the building and she turned to Chloe.

"Thanks for coming. For once, I had fun at one of those things."

Chloe smiled. "No problem."

"Cool."

They sat in silence for a few seconds.

"Don't think you're getting away with me not paying you back. Next time," Chloe said, " I'm taking you out."

"Like… like a…?" Beca gripped the steering wheel and stared straight ahead.

"Whatever you want to call it. But I owe you."

/

Driving home, Beca finally had time to think. It was cold out; the sun hadn't warmed the summer air yet. But it was fresh air and Beca let it flow through her car, clearing her head of drowsiness.

She asked herself, how did she end up driving home from Chloe's apartment before the sun had risen, feeling actually _good_ after a party? The answer was scary, terrifying, even.

Once she was home, she texted Amy, posing the question on her mind.

The response only confirmed her fear.

_Bec, you've got feelings. You're a human! Congrats!_

It wasn't like she was afraid of feelings. It was that she was afraid of what those feelings meant. If she really was having feelings for Chloe, that meant privacy issues and relationships and more questions than she had the patience to answer.

She sat in bed and pulled the notebook out from under her mattress. The first few pages were filled with scribbles and notes. The next few, lyrics. On the next empty page, Beca started to write. But the sun had started to slip into the sky.

Beca tossed the notebook to the floor and lay down. The ceiling seemed to lower, the lights dim. She let her eyes close, shutting out the world.

/

She dreamed. She dreamed of dancing through crowds of people, towards light. She dreamed of music dancing in the air, weaving between her limbs until she was encased in the sound. She dreamed of car rides and redheads and the moon falling out of the sky only to stop chasing the sun.

Beca loved the night. It was too dark to hide from yourself. Mornings were harsh. Night, night was friendly to those who let their demons into the world and blend into the darkness, into the air and the sky.

She woke up with a headache and sore feet.

She knew exactly how she ended up there, with a notebook next to her bed and a pen in her hand.


	10. Interview1Article1Article2

_Bonus chapter!_

* * *

><p><em>We Monthly<em>

It's a cool evening, the day of the party. Inside, it's hot. I managed to find Beca, music's best new DJ, near the back. She's close to a redhead, who the bouncer tells me is a friend of hers.

We find a spot to talk about her new EP, and maybe a few questions about her guest.

I: So, your new EP. How close is it to being finished?

Beca: It's getting there. I'm still working on the big song for it.

I: Any hints?

B: I've been working with some artists and recording new samples, so it'll be a different sound. It'll be good.

I: Any plans for another full album soon?

B: Well, I'm going to be mixing a few albums for the label, but I'm also working on some different projects. Hopefully, we'll see them turn into something.

Then, I ask about her friend. Beca seems a little shocked, but she laughs it off.

B: Chloe. She's Chloe. My friend. Yeah.

I: Well? Any news, any reason to bring her along?

B: I brought her as a friend. We talk about music, the business. She gives me a new perspective on my work.

I: You've been ambiguous about your romantic interests in the past. Are you in a relationship with her?

B: [laughing] I won't answer that! Ask her.

I: So, Chloe. How did you get lucky enough to end up here?

Chloe: I ask myself the same question. I guess life just happens, no matter how you put it.

Find Beca's EP In stores next month.

[]

* * *

><p><em>Person Magazine<em>

"She Gives Me a New Perspective…" – Beca spotted with a new friend at her promotional party. Is this the start of a romantic relationship, or is Beca's preference for privacy finally eroding?

Recently at Beca's party for her EP, she was spotted with a redheaded friend. Sources inform us that she's Chloe, a fan of Beca's work and now Beca's gal pal.

At the party, they stuck close together. It was clear that they arrived and left together.

Since then, they've been seen sneaking in and out of the studio and hopping around town.

When we reached out for comment from Beca's label, Luke replied, "It's not my place to say what they are, but they have been spending quite a bit of time together."

Beca's been tight-lipped about her personal life, and especially about her relationships. Rumors of her sexuality have circulated before, and now they're back in boatloads.

We reached out to her PR representative who declined to comment.

Now, we know that Beca put on a special playlist during her last event for a "guest." Our best bet is that Chloe's been getting closer, because Beca almost never plays recommendations. At least, she does when she likes the songs. But from her company bio, it doesn't seem likely that she would have come to be a fan of the boy band 5 Seconds of Summer without some other influence. Maybe we'll see Beca coming into a new style of music, or maybe we'll finally get a look into her relationship with Chloe.

What we do know is that Chloe is quite the opposite of Beca. Ever since she's appeared, Beca's been much more visible and noticeably more outgoing.

At this point, we can only hope to find out more about this odd pair.

[]

* * *

><p><em>Music Week<em>

Business Blurb: "Is This The End of Beca's Independent Record?"

We've seen Beca's dedication to her craft, but Chloe's intervention may distract her. All we can hope is that Beca isn't swayed into the easy-sell world of pop and cheap, empty lyrics.

What we know about her EP is that it'll be close to her other work, so it'll be a while until we see what this relationship does to her work.

[]


	11. Kiss You

Chloe squirmed in her seat, much to the annoyance of Aubrey.

"Can you sit still for five minutes?"

"No, not at all," Chloe said. "Come on, Bree. I'm just excited for tonight."

"What are you planning on doing, again? I seem to have forgotten. Oh, wait. You don't have a plan." Aubrey made a sharp left, the force of which made Chloe press up against the door.

"Relax. I'll figure something out."

Chloe did her best to hide her anticipation, but she still continued to fiddle with her phone and she couldn't find a comfortable way to sit.

"What if she hates it? What if it's too boring?"

Aubrey sighed and pulled into a parking lot.

"If she thinks you're boring, I will personally rip out her vocal chords. I will barge into her studio and take a sledgehammer to her laptop. I will-"

"Thank you, but don't," Chloe said. "I just… I don't have some big party to take her to. I can't one up her; I can't even match her."

Aubrey tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. "I can call Stacie and we can all hang out at your place, if that'll make it any easier."

The idea was tempting, but Chloe was already formulating a new idea. "Or… Bree, drop me off at home. I need to make a phone call."

/

She sent a short text.

_Meet me at 6. Dinner._

It took everything she had not to say anything else. She knew that what she had planned wasn't spectacular, but it could still be great if she just acted cool. Calm.

She waited for Beca to respond.

She kept waiting.

Five minutes to six, she heard a car horn outside.

Chloe ran to her window and looked down. On the street below, Beca was waving from her car.

After taking a few seconds to recover from the surprise, Chloe ran down to the street.

/

The restaurant was busy. Packed to the walls, and loud.

Beca paused at the door. "Why?"

Chloe laughed at Beca's hesitation. "Crowds give you privacy. Everyone's so absorbed in their own stories, they don't bother to look around." She walked up to the host, and soon enough she and Chloe were situated near the back, surrounded on all sides by groups that barely noticed that the table next to theirs had just been filled.

"So, what's up?" Chloe asked. But it was wrong. Too casual. Or not casual enough. Somewhere in between. "Never mind. I don't know."

Beca laughed. All she could think about was Chloe planning the whole dinner and ending up dumbfounded at the table. There was something refreshing about having someone genuinely not know what to say. It was like starting over, kind of.

Chloe excused herself to go to the bathroom, but she took a detour to the waiters waiting by the kitchen. She whispered to one of them, and the group nodded.

/

"So, what was that all about?" Beca asked. "You should know, I like my privacy and want to invade other people's."

Chloe just smiled in response. The waiter came and went, the food came and they ate. It was all spectacularly normal. And Chloe watched Beca carefully the whole time.

"I'm really sorry about the articles, by the way," Beca mentioned. "I mean, I've seen some around, and I don't want you to get into anything that you aren't… up for."

"It's okay. Today's not about all that. We're just hanging out."

"But how? Why is no one, well, noticing anything? I know I'm not the biggest name in the world, but I've seen the numbers. People here know who I am."

"Wow," Chloe said. "Ego, much?"

"No, I just… I'm not used to this. I'm sorry if that sounded-"

"I'm kidding. Don't worry." Chloe motioned towards the waiter. "I warned them. They know me here, so it's cool."

Beca looked around the restaurant. Chloe was right; they weren't making a fuss or a scene.

"So?" Chloe asked hopefully. Her question barely needed elaboration. She provided it anyways. "How's it been so far?"

She watched Beca continue to look around, turn from confused to content, and stick a fork into the remaining food on her plate.

"It's been good," Beca said, nodding. "It's been a while since I've… You know, I've never really done this."

It was as if the noise from the restaurant had been suspended so far during their conversation and had only now started to bleed through their bubble. It was that moment of realization that the world kept going.

"What, gone to a restaurant? Ate dinner with a friend?"

"No," Beca countered. "No. More like, a… Fuck, I don't know. You've got me talking and I'm so bad at talking to people."

Chloe sighed and waved to the waiter. "Well, while you work through that, I'm going to pay."

"I'll pay."

"No, I got it."

"I can't let you pay. Give me the bill."

The waiter held out the receipt, waiting for one of them to surrender.

"No, it's my turn to take you out."

"At least let me pay tip."

The waiter still stood there, unsure of what to do with the slip of paper in his hand. Eventually, he set it in the middle of the table and walked away, shaking a little.

Chloe snatched the bill from the table before Beca could protest. "My turn."

/

It was dark when they walked out to Beca's car. Chloe directed Beca to her apartment building, but Beca knew the way.

Once they were there, Chloe opened the car door. "I'll text you tomorrow?"

Beca nodded, following Chloe up to the front door.

"Maybe sometime this week we can hang out with Aubrey and Stacie. I know they're dying to meet you."

"Yeah," Beca said. "That'd be cool."

They stood in front of the door for another minute, each waiting for the other to do something, but neither were sure what they were waiting for.

In the span of a minute, Chloe ran through the possible scenarios for what she wanted to do. She looked at Beca, at how she was looking right back at her.

The night air was just cooling down. She knew they would only stand there for another few minutes before one of them wanted to get out of the cold.

"So," Beca sighed. "Good?"

Chloe took a deep breath and nodded. She felt her heart pound in her chest, trying to pull her closer to Beca.

"Date," she whispered. "That was what you were trying to say earlier."

"Yeah."

She leaned forward, but Beca turned away. Chloe stepped back and took Beca's hand. "Why won't you let me kiss you?"

"I'm not there yet," Beca whispered. "I'm sorry."


	12. Kiss Me Kiss Me

Beca slammed her car door a little too forcefully and let out a shout.

"So fucking close," she muttered, hitting the edge of the steering wheel. "Idiot. Ruined everything."

Her phone buzzed in the cup holder.

_Wednesday night w/ Stacie and Aubrey?_

She smiled and sent a quick reply.

_Sure._

/

It started out like before. Pick up Chloe, drive somewhere, and hang out. But this time, Chloe had other plans. She directed Beca to Aubrey's house, where they were apparently going to have a "night in."

Beca feared that this outing- could it even be called an outing?- would involve watching movies. If it did, she expected to fall asleep and end up regretting the whole thing.

She rocked back and forth on her feet, unsure of what she should be doing. But Chloe reached for her hand and took hold of it, holding Beca still.

It had been quite a while since Beca had truly been invited to someone's house. It was in high school, senior year, that some girl decided to try to be Beca's friend. In short, it didn't end well. Beca spent about a half hour thinking too much about what sitting position she was in, because that was the most interesting thing about the outing.

/

Now, she did have a few friends. She would be exaggerating if she said she spent her entire childhood in her room, on her laptop.

Benji was one. Next-door neighbor, best friend. The whole town thought they were going to get married one day, which was part of the reason Beca kept so quiet about her sexuality. It just seemed to mess things up for everyone else.

Then there was Unicycle, who nearly dropped off the face of the Earth after high school until Beca saw his name in the local newspaper.

_Local man found with unicycle and marijuana; should unicycling under the influence be considered the next threat to public safety?_

Regardless, during high school, the three of them were close. Benji and Unicycle didn't question Beca when she wanted to stay home over the weekend to work on her music or when she worked to exhaustion at the movie theatre to get enough hours to be paid overtime.

/

"I apologize in advance. I haven't really done this kind of thing in a while."

Chloe grabbed Beca's hand in one of hers and reached out with the other to ring the doorbell. After about three seconds, Aubrey was at the door, looking Beca up and down.

"Just give me a second," Aubrey said, still standing in the doorway. "Okay. This is going to take a little while to get used to."

"Is this going to be too weird?" Beca asked, but Chloe was already pushing past Aubrey and dragging Beca along with her.

Stacie was spread out on Aubrey's couch, holding what seemed like the world's largest bowl of popcorn. Beca coughed as soon as she smelled it, but shook her head and took a deep breath. This was for fun, not work, she told herself. Even if it felt weird to not be working for once.

Aubrey pointed to the left. "Bathroom's that way, for future reference."

"Thanks," Beca replied, unsure exactly how to respond otherwise. "Do you normally greet people by pointing to the bathroom?"

"No, I…" Aubrey sighed. "I like to know where the bathroom is, so I figured I might as well relieve everyone else of the question."

Chloe leaned closer to Beca and whispered in her ear. "Aubrey's got a sensitive stomach. She blows chunks like a pro."

/

Two movies and a 6-pack of beer later, Beca had loosened up enough to sprawl out on the couch, one arm draped over Chloe and Chloe resting against her.

Chloe looked up at Beca smiling, and Beca couldn't help but reciprocate. Neither said anything, but they didn't look away from each other. It had been going on the whole evening, on and off.

"You two need to just kiss already," Stacie muttered, loud enough for everyone to hear but quiet enough for Beca and Chloe to ignore.

But Aubrey wouldn't let it slide.

"You heard her. Beca, truth or dare."

Chloe sat up to look at Aubrey. "We're too old for that."

"Truth or dare."

Beca rolled her eyes, but she knew she couldn't avoid it. She wasn't ready for any of it, the truth, the opening up to Chloe's friends. "Dare."

"KISS," Stacie interjected. "She dares you to just fucking kiss because obviously you haven't yet and it's distracting."

Chloe bit her lip and looked up at Beca again, trying to say with her eyes that nothing had to happen yet.

But Beca wasn't going to back down. She had to prove that she was there for Chloe, that she was willing to be a part of all this. She didn't know why she needed to prove it. Maybe it was the beer, or maybe it was that weird feeling in her chest that she couldn't place.

Beca nodded. Chloe smiled in return and leaned closer to Beca.

It was short, nothing more than a show. Beca was used to performing. Smile, get through the day, was her mantra. Wait until night, when you can fall apart with no one noticing.

And it was over and Stacie demanded that Aubrey get more popcorn. Beca refused to sit through another movie, but it didn't matter. Aubrey had work the next day and Beca had another meeting with Cynthia Rose and Jessie.

/

Back in front of Chloe's building again, standing by the door, it felt just like before.

Chloe unlocked the door but didn't walk inside.

"You know, it's late. I don't want you driving home buzzed and tired. Come on," she said, holding the door open.

It was the first time Beca had ever been in Chloe's apartment. It was like she had expected, really. Fairly organized, but still littered with signs of Chloe's routines. A roll of paper towels sat on the kitchen table and an empty bowl was on the floor by the couch. Beca appreciated those little signs of home; they reminded her of her first few years away from home, living between paychecks and avoiding her landlord on the first Monday of the month.

Chloe trudged around her apartment, gathering a few blankets and pillows and some extra clothes.

"I'm going to be honest, I usually fall asleep on the couch. So trust me when I say it's comfy. My bed is… small."

Beca took the wad of sleeping materials from Chloe and smiled. "No worries. I've slept on my couch quite a bit, too."

A moment passed with both of them standing over the couch, forgetting for a second that it was late and they were tired. For that moment, there was a sense of mutuality, of understanding. If what, they weren't sure. But that didn't matter right then.

/

Beca woke up confused, then relieved. Confused at why she wasn't at home, and relieved that she was at Chloe's apartment, which somehow had already started to feel like home. It had been years since she spent the night at someone else's place.

/

Chloe insisted on making breakfast, which turned out to be cereal.

"My specialty," she said, sweeping her arm over the bowls as if they were a three-course meal being presented at a banquet.

"Thanks for letting me crash here," Beca said between mouthfuls. "And you were right about that couch."

Chloe puffed out her chest and smirked. "Any time."

Beca's phone went off after a few minutes, reminding her of her meeting.

"Fuck, I've got to go," she said, getting up. "I owe you for this."

Chloe stood up from her chair and said, "I would like to redeem my favor now."

"You've got thirty seconds," Beca said. "Then I need to go. It'll take at least a half hour to drive down-"

"Let me kiss you. Last night was… just to shut them up."

"Fine. Then kiss me," Beca challenged.

Their lips met and Beca wrapped her arms around Chloe, closing the small distance between them.

Chloe felt Beca start to smile under her lips. She broke the kiss and looked Beca in the eye.

"What?" she asked.

"It's just… you make me feel like a teenager. Like everything's new."

"So, now what?"

Beca checked her phone and tossed it onto the table.

"I can be late."


	13. Up All Night

Chloe couldn't keep her hands off of Beca. It was unlike anything else she had felt before.

Beca's phone rang again, and Beca pulled away.

"I really have to go now," she said.

"Fine," Chloe pouted. "But I won't be happy about it."

/

While Beca was off at her meeting, Chloe gathered up the pillows and blankets from the couch and tossed them into the closet.

She stood in front of the closet for a minute, contemplating what to do next. It was late morning, later than she usually woke up. She knew that it was going to be one of those nights where she couldn't fall asleep.

After she got bored staring at the closed door in front of her, she grabbed her phone. What she hadn't noticed earlier, was that Aubrey and Stacie had been texting her for the past hour, firing questions that would take at least another hour to go through and answer. So, Chloe put her phone in her pocket and started to clean up the empty bowls on the table.

She didn't get far, though. Her phone went off once, twice, and then again. Chloe sighed and resigned herself to the fact that she would have to start dishing out answers.

She sent out a single text.

_Starbucks. Fifteen minutes._

/

The corner table, against the window and as far from the counter as possible, was the usual place. This time was no different.

Chloe stirred her coffee while Aubrey and Stacie arranged themselves across from her.

"So?" Chloe asked, preparing herself for the worst.

"What happened after you guys left?" Stacie blurted out, not bothering to even try to hold back.

"We crashed at my place," Chloe responded. "I know, scandalous. But she slept on the couch."

Stacie went for it again, interrogating Chloe on the nuances of her relationship.

"It's kind of weird. I mean, it feels unreal, like the whole world is playing some kind of joke on us. But outside of it all, Beca's just trying to make music. I don't know, maybe I haven't seen enough of this world, but people have been fairly calm about it all. That, or I've been spending too much time in denial."

Aubrey was quiet. She was waiting for Stacie to get through all of her questions before adding in her own. Chloe noticed, and turned to Aubrey.

"What do you think?"

Aubrey cleared her throat and straightened her back. "I think that you have no idea what you've gotten yourself into. But I also think that you woke up happy this morning, and that it was the first time in a while that someone made you feel like that."

"Valid," Chloe said.

"But," Aubrey continued, "I'm still not totally on board with this, either. She's got to be hiding something, right? She can't just be spending every day, every hour in the studio."

"She…" Chloe looked down at her drink. "I know she spends a lot of time alone. I know she does have a few other friends, but they're not close. I know she spends a lot of time on her work, but that's not a bad thing."

"What if she doesn't know how not to, though?" Aubrey asked. "What if that's all there is to her? What happens when you need someone to be there for you and she can't get her head out of her ass?"

"I'm not leaving you guys," Chloe shot back. "You'll still be around."

Stacie shook her head. "No, I get what Aubrey's saying. Some day, we're not going to be a few blocks away. You're going to be going through shit and Beca's going to be in the studio. Then what?"

Chloe stood up, knocking her chair to the side. "I'm sick of being so fucking lonely, and now I have the chance to fix that." She pointed at her friends. "You all need to back up. You can't be protective now, not when you left me alone for _years_. I can carry myself. And if I do need help one day, I'll call someone who gets that."

/

Her anger was exhausting, but exhilarating. She ran down the street and to the bus station, too tired to put up with everything and too fired up to stop moving.

The bus was late, so she kept moving. Across the street, right turn, and three blocks.

It was a hot day. And she knew that the higher the temperature, the fewer patrons at the library. She strode inside, her head held high as the cool, dry air blasted around her.

Chloe walked smoothly up the stairs, maintaining her composure but seething under her skin. She found her way to the Youth Services desk, where Gail always sat.

"Hey."

Gail looked up from her computer and smiled. "Need a shelving shift?"

"Would it be bad?"

"Not at all. Just remember to fill out the time sheet and write 'shelving' somewhere by it. We'll say I called you in."

Shelving shifts were always open. The whole library had three, maybe four part-time shelvers, but in the summer, books somehow ended up everywhere but in the right place. Chloe never minded taking a few hours to gather up and sort through the books left behind by kids who never learned the Dewey Decimal system.

Sometimes, she came in because she didn't want to be alone. Gail never asked about it.

/

She was in the technology section when her phone rang.

"Beca! Thanks for calling. I need to get my mind off of stuff."

"Perfect. My friend Fat Amy is having a party tonight," Beca said. "I was wondering if you wanted to, well, go with me? Like, as a kind of..."

"Date?" Chloe asked. "Yeah, I'd love it."

"Awesome. And it'll be fun; no press or interviews."

"Before you hang up, why did you call her Fat Amy? Isn't that a little rude?"

"Oh, nah. She calls herself Fat Amy. It's… it'll make sense when you meet her."

/

The music store was cramped and full of sweaty people. Beca's hand was around her wrist, though, guiding her through the crowd and to the counter.

"Chloe, this is Fat Amy," she said, gesturing to a woman with a bottle of tequila in one hand and two shot glasses in the other.

"Pipsqueak!" Fat Amy shouted over the noise. "You brought your pal!"

Fat Amy set the two glasses on the counter and poured out two shots. "Just in time, too. Want to hop up in that booth?"

Beca took one of the glasses and downed the shot. "You bet. Come on, you've guys have to get to know each other."

/

"A fucking One Direction concert, though. I can't believe Luke sent you on a mission like that."

"I know," Beca said. "But it happens."

Amy smirked. "And it gets you a girl. So, Red. What's your deal?"

"Oh, um…" Chloe scrambled to find a response. "I, uh, work at the library."

"Oi, I volunteered there when I was like fifteen! They kicked me out though. Said I was too loud."

"I could see why," Chloe said. "And you? What's… your deal?"

"Well, I found Short Stack in a pinch a while back and let her crash with me while she got situated. I let her work on her shit in back, 'cause my store's the best place around to do anything music. Opened this little joint up myself and it's done good for me so far."

The conversation continued, mostly with Amy recounting her earlier exploits in drinking and generally causing mayhem. Beca managed the music, playing with new songs and the soundboards Amy stocked.

It was after midnight when Beca, Chloe, and Amy ran out of amusing stories. The party was fading fast.

"I think we're going to head out," Beca said. "Chlo?"

"Sure."

Amy chuckled at them. "You two be good, now. Don't break any tables or anything."

/

Aubrey's earlier comments haunted Chloe. Before they got into Beca's car, she had to say something.

"Why haven't you taken me to your place yet?" Chloe asked. "Are you hiding something?"

"No," Beca replied. "You just never asked."

"Well, yeah, but…"

"You want to see it?" Beca offered. "Because, um, we did kind of… decide this was a date and all."

Chloe nodded and searched for the right words to respond with.

"I don't want to sleep tonight," she said.

"Me either."


	14. Greenlight

_Short chapter, but a bonus coming up in a few days._

* * *

><p>It was weird. Really weird.<p>

It wasn't long ago that Chloe grabbed her phone at that concert. Not long at all. Just in early summer, and now it was July and Chloe was in her house.

"Wow."

Beca laughed. "Thanks."

Two stories and a basement hadn't seemed so special when she bought the place. But she took pride in everything she had done since.

Once she got promoted to mixing, she had enough money to buy the place. The first thing she did was get a new laptop and set it up on her second-hand coffee table next to a mug of hot chocolate. Beca had decided that drinking coffee at her coffee table was too clichéd, too predictable.

After she finished mixing her own album, she finally had the funds to create her own space. Studio basement. Kitchen with a stove that didn't smell like it was about to explode at any moment. Bedroom that didn't smell like someone else's life.

And now, Chloe was standing in the kitchen, pulling open drawers and cabinets, laughing all the while.

"This is your house," Chloe said. "Like, _your_ house. And your sink has dirty dishes in it."

"Yes, yes it does," Beca said. "One of these days I'll deal with that."

Chloe paused her survey and turned to face Beca. "So, now what?"

"I… I don't know." Beca looked towards the staircase. "I can show you upstairs? Downstairs? Something else?"

As soon as she said it, she realized what she had gotten herself into. Chloe smirked and raised an eyebrow.

"Upstairs," she quietly demanded.

/

Chloe threw herself onto Beca's bed. "You must love this," she said, sinking into the mattress.

"Yeah, I, um, I guess," Beca replied. Seeing Chloe in her bed was exciting in ways she hadn't expected, but terrifying nonetheless. Questions hummed in her mind, though, keeping her from taking any action.

Chloe grabbed Beca's hands and pulled her towards the bed. "You need less clothes," she said.

Beca stood still, Chloe trying to puller her onto the bed, Her heartbeat picked up, anticipating the worst of a situation that hadn't even happened yet.

The words in her head were caught in her throat and Chloe was in front of her, holding her hands tightly and slowly realizing that something was wrong.

"What?"

"We should talk," Beca whispered.

Chloe nodded and dropped Beca's hands. "Okay."

Beca sat on the edge of the bed next to Chloe. It had been a while since she felt uncomfortable in her own house, her own bed.

"You want to move fast, and I get it." Beca looked at the floor as she spoke. "I feel that, too. But I don't want you to get hurt. I'm still not used to all of this, and I'm scared that it'll get to be too much and you'll just, kind of…"

"Leave?"

"No, not leave. Just, I don't want you to get overwhelmed by anything or feel like you're trapped. I don't know."

Chloe wrapped her arm around Beca's shoulders. "I'm not trapped. I'm not overwhelmed."

"But what if you are? Later?" Beca asked.

"Then we'll deal with it. Okay? Now, let's have some fun."

"Chloe, do you not understand this?" Beca stood up abruptly and faced Chloe. "If this goes any farther, it'll be impossible to go back. I need to _know_, I need to know for _sure_ that you're actually, really ready for this. All of it."

Beca let her statement hang in the air before continuing. "Trust me, I don't want this to end. But I need to know for sure."

Chloe took Beca's hands, pulling Beca closer. "I'm sure."

/

Something about Chloe was special. Beca could tell. There was something in the way that Chloe and her only ever really were together at night that made everything feel a little more secretive, exciting.

She'd never admit, but some days she slept late (later than usual) just to avoid the empty time between work and her outings with Chloe (and the occasional event with Aubrey and Stacie).

Beca knew, as soon as she and Chloe walked into her house, that it would last until morning. That was what scared her, that in the morning, she would have to face everything. She wouldn't be able to hide any more.

She wasn't sure if that was good or bad yet.

/

Chloe took Beca's shirt in her hands and tugged. "Off," she whispered.

Beca assisted her, pulling the old t-shirt over her head and tossing it to the floor. "And you," Beca said. She watched as Chloe did as she was told, amazed at every inch she saw.

"So?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sure."


End file.
